Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Maybe you would prefer that we take Joelle’s side in ALL CAPS?

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Everybody saw this coming.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

A consequence of cucumbers

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

“But what about the lurkers?”

The words do not have to be perfect.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

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Archives for June 2019

ITMFA

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This is the best piece I’ve read about impeachment lately – read the whole thing.

For a long time, I was on the fence about impeachment. A couple of things that swayed me are mentioned in the article linked above. First, left to his own devices, Trump will drive the media narrative and suck up all of the media oxygen in the next 15 months. A set of impeachment hearings by one House committee meeting on a regular schedule with good counsel driving hard questions–not a bunch of different committees meeting on occasion with grandstanding preening questioners–will put Trump’s crimes on the front page of newspapers and lead the nightly news. Trump will have to respond, and he’ll look guilty and weak. Second, even when the Senate votes against conviction, vulnerable Senators like McSally, Collins and Gardner will have to take an actual vote. They would rather tsk-tsk about Trump and do nothing – a vote puts them in a tough position a few months before the election.

Third, it’s the right thing to do, and Congress needs to do its duty. Pelosi’s reticence is probably driven in part by pushback from members who would rather do nothing and hope that Trump just won’t be re-elected. That might happen, but a lot of Democrats went out of their way to vote for candidates who promised to do something about Trump, and Congress doing nothing is going to suppress Democratic turnout. There are also some “independent” low information voters who might learn something from the Mueller report being read into the record, one day at a time. (And, btw, fuck yes this committee must get Mueller to testify, if only to read his report into the record. Look at the effect of his press conference, which essentially just repeated some facts from his report, yet still enraged Trump and led the newscasts.)

Finally, the House also needs to pass all the legislation that Democrats promised, and Presidential candidates need to talk about how they would sign those bills if they were elected. Maybe Democrats’ policy messages will be drowned out by the impeachment hearings, but we already run the risk of Trump’s inane tweeting drowning them out.

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Sunday Garden Chat Open Thread: Greetings From the PNW

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From the indefatigable Opie Jeanne:

I always feel guilty when you post that there are no garden photos from members, but then I worry that I’ve sent them to you too often. And I am very embarrassed by how my garden looks in comparison to others’ gardens, especially Marvel’s.

At top is a bearded iris with variegated leaves. I guess they’re well-known but when I bought it several years ago I’d never seen one and bought it even though it wasn’t in bloom.


The next two are foxglove, growing in the gravel next to the potatoes. Volunteer flowers. We have no grandchildren and the potato leaves are toxic too, so we’ve left them. The weed cloth under the gravel is losing the battle after five years.


The huge blooming thing is a beauty bush. It’s 8 years old and was just a wee thing when we planted it back then.


This photo is to show you the volunteer flowers and weeds. Lots of Columbine, cranesbill, chives, and lupines. And the blasted buttercup with its pretty little yellow flowers. It’s insidious and gets everywhere, and mr opiejeanne was busy liberating a small rhododendron from the stuff today, Tuesday.


You can see just how bad the infestation of buttercup is in this shot. There were more than a dozen rose bushes in this large semi-circle, and the area was edged with lavender plants. We will be liberating this area later this week.

We gave up today because it’s just too chilly to be outside today. It was supposed to hit 73 but there’s no sun so it will stay in the low 60s (it if makes it that high; at noon it was 56) and there’s just enough breeze that it’s uncomfortable. It’s 2:30 and we’ve just given up and shut the windows. The cat is settling in for a nap on mr opiejeanne’s lap so I guess we’re going to read or something for a while, unless the sun makes an appearance.

What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?

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Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: The Unearned Confidence of A Mediocre White Man

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If Harris hasn’t already asked for a Secret Service detail, looks like it’s time for her to do so. His 15 seconds of fame are gonna inspire all the other self-obsessed John Hinckleys, and the next one might be flapping something more dangerous than his big mouth.

And we can be sure if Harris had coldcocked him — which is what he deserved — every talking-head Sunday morning “news” show would’ve been gumming over the same topic: “Kamala Harris: Does This Hair-Trigger African-American Woman Have the TEMPERAMENT To Be President?”

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Saturday Night Open Thread

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Last spring I threw a bunch of wildflower seeds in the front beds, and they have re-emerged with a vengeance this summer. I love it.

Spent the whole day outside doing things, and then cooked a big spaghetti dinner for Dom, Taylor, and Breyana, because they are over for movie night while his mom and dad go out on a date. Ice cream sandwiches with vanilla ice cream and chocolate cookies for dessert.

Dad had a bad day yesterday- just in a lot of pain and not recovering the way he wanted to, but today he was much stronger and in great spirits, and it looks like he will be heading to rehab on Monday.

Has the BJ Pr0n crisis of 2019 ended or are you all still being served XXX content?

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C.R.E.A.M. Open Thread: Beating Our Plowshares Into Swords

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We already know the answer to that one: MONEY!

Sure, it’ll further destabilize the Middle East, not to mention violating American law, but those Arabs have money!!! How is anyone with the kind of ethical code that allows them to work for Donald Trump gonna turn down money?

The Washington Post Editorial Board:

… If the new gift to the crown prince is allowed to stand, Mr. Trump will have established a new precedent: Presidents may sell arms anywhere in the world without congressional review simply by claiming an unspecified emergency. Even supporters of Mr. Trump and of arms sales to Saudi Arabia ought to be troubled by this. Sen. James E. Risch (R-Idaho), the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, is at least thinking about it: In a statement, he said he was “reviewing and analyzing the legal justification for this action and the associated implications.”

Mr. Risch has a ready remedy: He can allow a vote in his committee on legislation to block the sales until the Saudi regime stops bombings in Yemen and meets other basic conditions, including the release of women’s rights activists it has detained and tortured. Congress has an obligation to rein in Mr. Trump’s wanton embrace of the Saudi strongman; it also must defend its basic foreign policy prerogatives. It’s time for Mr. Risch to show whether he is up to that challenge.

Mr. Risch is a Republican. The only ‘challenge’ he can see is whether he’ll fold fast enough & enthusiastically enough to please his Dear Leader…

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At Last, An Explanation For The Death Of Reason In The Republican Party

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This news out of Hawaii explains so much!

Hawaii’s health department has released fresh warnings about a parasitic worm that can infest human brains after officials confirmed that three more visitors to the state picked up the infection.

Not just any worm, either, but one perfectly named in the context of Republican political gamesmanship:

The parasitic worm in these cases is the rat lungworm, aka Angiostrongylus cantonensis. As its common name suggests, the wandering worm primarily takes up residence in rats’ lungs, where female worms lay their eggs. Young worms leave the nest early to find their own windy homes, though. Larvae get coughed up into rats’ throats then swallowed. The hosting rat eventually poops out the young parasites, which then get gobbled up by feces-feasting snails and slugs (intermediate hosts). When other rodents come along and eat those infected mollusks, the prepubescent parasites migrate to the rats’ brains to mature before settling into the lungs and reproducing. The cycle then starts again.

Except, when intercepted by an allegedly wise primate, the journey shifts:

Humans are an accidental host, typically infected when they inadvertently eat an infected slug or snail that has slid into their salad fixings or other produce…

In humans, young worms make their way to the brain as they would in a rat. But the rambling invaders rarely survive long enough to make it to their final destination in the lungs. Instead, they usually die somewhere in the central nervous system. In some cases, the infection is symptomless and resolves on its own. In others, the worm meanders around the brain, and its presence, movement, and death in the central nervous system all contribute to symptoms.

I wish I could here paint a precise picture of the symptoms afflicting, say, Nazi-sympathizing Fox News hosts, but I’m guessing the actual sequence would be enough to irritate many into similarly bad behavior:

Those can vary wildly but sometimes include headaches, neck stiffness, tingling or pain, low-grade fever, nausea, and vomiting. In severe cases, the infection can lead to nerve damage, paralysis, coma, and even death.

All apparatchik-rat lungworm jokes aside, this sounds truly nasty; something to avoid; and the latest reason to distrust a salad-based lifestyle.

This thread! It is open!

Image: Luther before the Diet of Worms, 1877

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